Flyers lock up Laviolette

After a failed attempt to bring Shea Weber aboard, the Flyers
haven’t been as successful as they’d hoped in their
attempt to make big changes for a second summer in a row. But GM
Paul Holmgren made one thing for certain on Wednesday: no major
shakeup is in store behind the bench.

Philadelphia has agreed to a multi-year extension with head
coach Peter Laviolette (Franklin, Mass.). CSN Philly is reporting
that the deal will run through the 2014-15 campaign.

Laviolette became the 17th head coach in team history
in late 2009, as he took over for John Stevens midway through the
season. Since joining the Flyers, he’s gone 112-73-26 in the
regular season. He owns a 23-22 record in the playoffs.

"I was really excited to come to a market like Philadelphia, and
an organization with the history, the ownership, and working for
Paul," Laviolette said via a conference call on Wednesday. "I'm as
excited today as I was back then about being able to move forward.
There's a great group of players here and to come back and be able
to continue to work here is where I want to be. Philadelphia is a
big market and I was really excited back then and I'm still really
excited about that."

In his first season on the job, Laviolette guided the
Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals, where they lost to the Chicago
Blackhawks in six games. Philly has bowed out in the second round
in each of the last two postseasons.

In his career, Laviolette owns a 366-257-25-60 record in 708
games as a head coach in the National Hockey League. The
47-year-old bench boss previously coached the Islanders and
Hurricanes. He won it all with Carolina in 2006.